I've only had a problem once and that was because bc was full. I was gold so did try and do it at airport. Never had a prob doing it though just after I booked tickets. Reason I waited til the airport was I used to her a lot of free upgrades. So took the risk to upgrade after I checked in and for my boarding pass

Thanks to you both. I will ring EK before we try to book, just to check the availablility of upgrades. The tricky bit is that we only have enough miles for the Mel-DXB or DXB-Mel bit, not for the entire journey to Europe.

You upgrade per segment, so it does not matter how many segments you would like to upgrade.

As stated above, if you have a saver ticket, you cannot upgrade (only 24 hours before flight). Upgrade restrictions are shown when you book.

Upgrade depends on seat availability (quota). Also your frequent flyer status has an impact.

You can also book via phone with EK. You will pay a small fee, but then the agent maybe able to upgrade you directly.

Please be aware that if you do an upgrade with miles, you will lose the upgrade when you change dates.

Lots of detailed comment here on upgrades

flyertalk.com/forum/emirates-skywards-490/

my sister was offered BC upgrades twice... on outbound and inbound sectors with EK. Not with her miles but cash payment. As it was the shorter of the sectors she declined. These were offered two days before the flight

I upgraded an AU to Europe flight last year well in advance of travel using miles but I notice that this year Emirates are advertising all the flights (out of Perth anyway) as only upgradeable at check-in.

I 'm guessing they got burnt last year with having to turn full fare paying business class travellers away because economy upgraders got all the seats. :)

So, yes, it will be a gamble.

Thanks everyone for your responses.

jslonisch, the flight from Melb is showing as upgradeable only at check-in , but the return is not, so i will try to book the outgoing as business class and the return as economy and then try to upgrade.

Dubai_Phil_64, I will phone EK and see how we go. Happy to pay a small fee if it all gets done.

jagjetfly, 2 days prior is cutting it way too fine. I'm hoping to use the miles to offset the price increase.

Thanks again everyone.

"DubaiPhil_64, I will phone EK and see how we go. Happy to pay a small fee if it all gets done"

Perhaps it is a one off situation, but I did not have to pay any fees when I upgraded my tickets. Also, I was considering changing the date of my return whilst I was in Bergen in 2012, and other than the usual date change fee, the EK office was able to find another date on the business class with no additional fees for both of us.

I've managed to upgrade several times on saver tickets in advance - never once come up against a 24 hours restriction?

I've also done it by phone as to upgrade both of us we use our own miles and online it does it on just one account - and never had to pay a fee.

You have to keep checking online every day to see if your flight can be upgraded with miles - somedays no availabilty, others yes.